Method and apparatus for using a back hoe bucket as a frozen ground ripper

ABSTRACT

A two-piece multiposition ripper attachment for a back hoe is disclosed. In a first position, the attachment is stored out of the way so as to not interfere with normal use of the back hoe. In a second position, the attachment and method is exposed so that the back hoe may be used as a ripper in one orientation and may be used to perform its normal functions in a second orientation.

1 United States Patent [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS2.840.931 7/1958 Appel 37/117.5 2,969,966 H1961 Matheis 299/26 3,097,4397/1963 Calkin 37/117.5 3,403,940 10/1968 Clark 299/26 3,430,703 3/1969Richey 37/117.5

Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser A!t0mey.1effers and Rickert AhSTRACT:A two-piece multiposition ripper attachment for a back hoe is disclosed.In a first position, the attachment is stored out of the way so as tonot interfere with normal use of the back hoe. In a second position, theattachment and method is exposed so that the back hoe may be used as aripper in one orientation and may be used to perform its normalfunctions in a second orientation.

PATENTEI] AUG 3 IHII llVl/E/I/TOR.

JACK D. CARTER ATTORNEYS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING A BACK HOEBUCKET AS A FROZEN GROUND RIPPER This invention relates to attachmentsfor movable buckets and more specifically to a ripper attachment for aback hoe bucket. The prior procedures for breaking up frozen ground,asphalt or other similar surfaces has been to use a large cableoperatedmachine and merely drop the bucket so as to break through the hardsurface. This is obviously hard on the machine. There are also specialpurpose machines designed for this ripping process. Small machinesequipped with a back hoe bucket are generally incapable of coping withthis problem.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide anattachment for a back hoe bucket which attachment may be used to rip ortear through a crustaceous surface such as frozen ground or asphalt.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a rippingattachment which does not interfere with the normal use-of the back hoebucket.

The present invention contemplates a two-piece ripper attachment for aback hoe bucket. When the attachment is in one position, the back hoemay be used to perform its normal scooping operations in one orientationand may be used as a ripper in a second orientation. When the attachmentis in another position it is stored out of the way so as to notinterfere with any of the normal uses of the back hoe bucket.

Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to provide aretractable ripper attachment for a bucket.

When the attachment is in its ripping orientation the bucket serves as aguide so as to not allow the ripper to dig too deeply and thus becomehung up or stuck.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a ripperattachment which is economical to manufacture and easy to install.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more readily apparent from the subsequent disclosure read inconjunction with the accompanying drawing in which like parts areindicated by like numerals:

FIG. I shows the ripper attachment in its retracted position on a backhoe bucket;

FIG. 2 shows the ripper attachment in its operating position on a backhoe bucket;

FIG. 3 is an end view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. I; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a bucket or scoop I is shown with the ripperattachment in place. The front end 2 of the bucket is used to scoopmaterial. The rear end of the bucket has a rearwardly projecting portion4 provided with one or more holes 5. These holes are normally providedon the bucket to allow variations in the point of attachment of the twolevers 3 and 6 for specialized digging operations. Thus, the particularback hoe bucket illustrated in FIG. 1 might occasionally be used withthe lever 6 attached by means of a pin through the hole 5 rather thanthrough the hole 7. As a general rule this hole 5 is not used for leverattachment and is thus available to attach the novel ripper of thepresent invention. Of course, the orientation ofthe bucket l iscontrolled during use by the relative orientation of the levers 3 and 6.These levers may be hydraulically operated.

As shown in FIG. I applicant's attachment is seen to consist ofa bracketportion 8 provided with a plurality of apertures or holes at the points5, 9 and 10. The aperture at 5 allows the bracket to be attached bymeans of a pin through the corresponding holes in the rearwardlyprojecting portion of the bucket. The attachment further consists of ascarifier portion 11 shown as a vertically extending shank and a bit ortooth 12 attached to the lower end of the shank. In a preferredembodiment, this shank is of rectangular cross section and is providedwith at least one hole so that the shank may be attached to the bracketportion by mean of a pin generally indicated at 9 in FIG. 1. Either thebracket or the shank or both are provided with a plurality of holes sothat the pin at 9 may be removed and the shank portion lowered to itsoperational position as is shown in FIG. 2. In the particular embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shank portion has one or any number ofholes and the bracket portion has one or any number of holes to allowfor this adjustment.

The specific structure of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention is most readily seen in reference to FIG. 3 which shows abucket I having a bracket portion 8 attached to the rearwardlyprojecting portion of the bucket by means of a pin I3 which pin is heldsecurely in place by the retaining ring 14. This pin is seen in FIG. 1as extending through the hole at 5 which hole passes through both thebracket and the rearwardly projecting portion of the bucket. The shankportion 11 of the scarifier is attached to the bracket portion 8 bymeans of a removable pin 15 which passes through aligned holes in thebracket and the shank portion. This pin is held in place by a retainer16.

Turning now to FIG. 4 the rearwardly projecting portion of the bucket isseen to consist of two parallel pieces I7 and 18 and the pin 13 is seento pass through a hole in 17, a hole in the bracket portion 8, and thena hole in 18 and to be held in position by the retaining ring 14. Theshank ll of the scarifier portion is seen to be attached to the bracketportion by the removable pin l5 which passes simultaneously through afirst side of the bracket 19 through the shank 11 and subsequentlythrough the other side of the bracket at 20. This pin 15 is held inposition by an easily removable retainer 16. The shank is further heldin position by a backing plate 21 on the bracket 8. For additionalstrength, gussets or braces 22 may be welded to the sides 19 and 20 soas to more securely hold them to the body of the bracket 8.

In light of the above structural disclosure, the installation andoperation of the attachment may now be easily followed. The presentdevice would typically be used as an attachment to the back hoe bucketof a tractorlike vehicle. Such buckets typically have several holeswhich serve as points of attachment for the mechanical linkage whichoperates the bucket. There are normally more holes than necessary foroperating the bucket. The present attachment is fastened by acasehardened pin to one of these extra holes such as illustrated at 5 inFIG. 1. The scarifier portion of the attachment is then slidably mountedwithin the bracket portion 8 by means of a second pin. The bracket andscarifier are provided with several holes so that this second pin may beinserted so as to hold the entire attachment out of the way duringextended periods of normal bucket use or may be held in a lower positionfor use of the attachment.

The advantages of this device should now also be clear. The device iseasy to install and no special tools or modifications of the bucket arenecessary. The device need not be removed in the summertime but can beleft on the bucket in its up or stored position. The device cannot hangup by going too deep. By this, I mean, the bucket serves as a guide ordepth gauge, thus the bucket of FIG. 2 will disrupt or loosen frozenground to a depth limited by the bottom of the bucket contacting thesurface of the ground. If the bucket of FIG. 2 is rotated slightlyclockwise, it will tear at a lesser depth. As the bucket is rotatedcounterclockwise, it will dig at a deeper and deeper depth until itreaches a point where the tooth or bit 12 is an gled relative to theearth in such a way as to force the entire attachment back out of theground. Thus, the attachment kicks itself out when digging too deeply.The angle of inclination of the tooth 12 relative to the shank 11 may ofcourse be varied from that shown in the drawing.

Several other modifications will immediately suggest themselves to thoseskilled in this art, thus, the tooth or bit on the end of the scarifiermay be made to be replaceable on the end of the shank portion so thatthe entire shank and bit need not be replaced when the bit is worn out.Similarly, this tooth may be made pointed, that is, to have a triangularhorizontal cross section rather than rectangular as shown in FIG. 3.These and other modifications will readily suggest themselves to thoseof ordinary skill in the art and accordingly the invention is to belimited only by the scope of the following claims.

l claim:

1. An attachment for use in conjunction with a movable bucket or thelike, the front end of said bucket being adapted to be used to scoopmaterial, the rear end of said bucket having at least'one rearwardlyprojecting portion provided with at least one transverse aperture, saidrear end of said bucket adapted to receive said attachment, saidattachment comprismg:

a bracket portion provided with a plurality of apertures, a first ofsaid apertures being adapted to removably attach said bracket portion tosaid rearwardly projecting portion;

a scarifier portion comprising a shank and a bit, said shank beingelongated, said bit attached to said shank in the proximity of one endof said shank, said shank being provided with at least one aperture;

a pin adapted to pass simultaneously through another of said aperturesin said bracket portion and an aperture in said shank portion to holdsaid scarifier portion in a first position with respect to said bracketportion, said pin being adapted to be removed and reinserted to align asecond pair of apertures so as to hold said scarifier portion and saidbracket portion in a second relative position.

2. The attachment of claim 1 wherein the bracket portion comprises apair of separated parallel side portions and an attaching portion, saidside portions adapted to confine said shank therebetween, said shankbeing of substantially rectangular cross section.

3. The attachment of claim 2 wherein said attaching portion is adaptedto be attached to said rearwardly projecting portion of said bucket by atransversely disposed pin.

4. The attachment of claim 2 wherein one of said shank and said pair ofparallel side portions is provided with one aperture and the other isprovided with two apertures so disposed that a first combination of saidapertures may be pinably aligned to hold the scarifier portion in saidfirst position and that a second combination of said apertures may bepinably aligned to hold the scarifier portion in said second position.

5. The method of using a back hoe to break up and move a.

horizontally disposed crustaceous material comprising the steps of;

attaching to the back hoe bucket in a first position a scarifi er;revolving the bucket to a first orientation wherein the scarifier isexposed below the lower edge of the bucket; moving the bucket andattached scarifier horizontally so as to rip the material; revolving thebucket to a second orientation so that the scarifier is obscured behindthe bucket; scooping up the thus loosened material into the bucket forremoval and;

moving the scarifier attachment to a second position'for storage duringperiods of nonuse.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of moving comprises making aplurality of substantially parallel ripping passes.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said plurality is three.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of moving the scarifier to itssecond position comprises the steps of sliding the scarifier attachmentupwardly with respect to the bucket, and affixing it to the bucket insaid second position so as to effectively store the scarifier in saidsecond position during periods of nonuse.

1. An attachment for use in conjunction with a movable bucket or thelike, the front end of said bucket being adapted to be used to scoopmaterial, the rear end of said bucket having at least one rearwardlyprojecting portion provided with at least one transverse aperture, saidrear end of said bucket adapted to receive said attachment, saidattachment comprising: a bracket portion provided with a plurality ofapertures, a first of said apertures being adapted to removably attachsaid bracket portion to said rearwardly projecting portion; a scarifierportion comprising a shank and a bit, said shank being elongated, saidbit attached to said shank in the proximity of one end of said shank,said shank being provided with at least one aperture; a pin adapted topass simultaneously through another of said apertures in said bracketportion and an aperture in said shank portion to hold said scarifierportion in a first position with respect to said bracket portion, saidpin being adapted to be removed and reinserted to align a second pair ofapertures so as to hold said scarifier portion and said bracket portionin a second relative position.
 2. The attachment of claim 1 wherein thebracket portion comprises a pair of separated parallel side portions andan attaching portion, said side portions adapted to confine said shanktherebetween, said shank being of substantially rectangular crosssection.
 3. The attachment of claim 2 wherein said attaching portion isadapted to be attached to said rearwardly projecting portion of saidbucket by a transversely disposed pin.
 4. The attachment of claim 2wherein one of said shank and said pair of parallel side portions isprovided with one aperture and the other is provided with two aperturesso disposed that a first combination of said apertures may be pinablyaligned to hold the scarifier portion in said first position and that asecond combination of said apertures may be pinably aligned to hold thescarifier portion in said second position.
 5. The method of using a backhoe to break up and move a horizontally disposed crustaceous materialcomprising the steps of; attaching to the back hoe bucket in a firstposition a scarifier; revolving the bucket to a first orientationwherein the scarifier is exposed below the lower edge of the bucket;moving the bucket and attached scarifier horizontally so as to rip thematerial; revolving the bucket to a second orientation so that thescarifier is obscured behind the bucket; scooping up the thus loosenedmaterIal into the bucket for removal and; moving the scarifierattachment to a second position for storage during periods of nonuse. 6.The method of claim 5 wherein the step of moving comprises making aplurality of substantially parallel ripping passes.
 7. The method ofclaim 6 wherein said plurality is three.
 8. The method of claim 5wherein the step of moving the scarifier to its second positioncomprises the steps of sliding the scarifier attachment upwardly withrespect to the bucket, and affixing it to the bucket in said secondposition so as to effectively store the scarifier in said secondposition during periods of nonuse.